shortridge

59 minutes ago, qwazse said:

Then you get a little closer to what we're actually selling.  

I would agree, but considering what National’s turned out for marketing collateral in the past, this is a pretty giant leap forward. Still, baby steps! We’ll get there.

It sparked enough interest on my daughter’s part to reverse some previous teenage apathy, so I’m counting that as a win! 😁

Link: 

I did get a reply from ScoutShop saying their website was indeed experiencing some issues and they were working to fix it. Hopefully that will be resolved soon.

Yet some troops, especially those with packs at the same CO, regard Webelos dens as “theirs” and any attempts to poach their property leads to smackdowns. It’s completely ridiculous, but that’s how people can get.

Thank you! That’s it. Guess I just have to do some wrangling.

The ScoutShop website seems to have a lot of items that show up on search results pages but then deliver a 404 error when you actually click on them. Seems like they should try to clean up their catalog.

The position-Specific training courses are all in Spanish: https://www.scouting.org/training/

As are the applications and other documents: https://www.scouting.org/resources/info-center/forms/

Back in the day, there used to be an oval universal emblem patch with a red backing and the letters BSA (this one). I can’t find it on ScoutShop, and the site in the link suggests it was last produced in 2009. Does anyone know if there is a replacement or successor, or other good “universal” BSA patch out there? Thanks!

3 hours ago, jjlash said:

I agree it is useless for an end user to locate a trainer.  But that is not really their model.

Sure, but then why is BSA referring it’s members to them as a training source?

20 minutes ago, Eagle94-A1 said:

Unfortunately the link I fond for it is an Error 404 ( Not Found).

What’s the URL? We can try to recover it through the Wayback Machine to see the exact language.

1 hour ago, jjlash said:

You will have to contact each one - it doesnt show what classes they offer.  In fact, many of them dont offer classes to the public, they are organizations such as schools or camps that provide training internally.

Yep, that’s where I threw up my hands and stopped searching. It’s a useless system. Getting trainers to pay their fees, not getting people trained, is clearly the ESCI goal.

36 minutes ago, TEP said:

Are there any recommendations on how to get Swimming merit badge outside of a summer camp?

He should talk to his Scoutmaster and ask for the names of local Swimming merit badge counselors, then contact a counselor and explain his circumstances. Going with a buddy, he should meet the counselor and discuss what he still needs to do and how he plans to do that. Then he should do it! 😃

If there are no counselors near you, he can ask the Scoutmaster to talk to the District Advancement Chair and see what his options are. There may be a counselor in a neighboring district, or perhaps the district can contact some local experts - a YMCA aquatics director comes to mind - who would be willing to sign up as a counselor.

Does anyone know how to *find* a BSA-approved WFA course?

Scouting.org refers visitors to three sources - ARC, ESCI, and ACA. (“A participant who successfully completes a 16-hour WFA course based on BSA curriculum will be certified as a WFA provider. This certification is valid for two years through any of the course providers listed below.”)

—> ARC has nothing in my area and the search function won’t let me cast a wider net except searching city by city.

—> ESCI doesn’t appear to offer courses itself but sells materials and certifies instructors. It does not offer an instructor search function that sorts by type of course.

—> ACA only recognizes WFA from ESCI and Sierra Rescue, which operates on the opposite side of the country.

If I take a WFA course through REI, NOLS, WMA, or SOLO, those appear to not count. Anyone else sorted this out?

15 minutes ago, qwazse said:

Fine point: linked troops share the same number. So ... /Troop100/Boys and ... /Troop100/Girls?

I don’t think they have to share it.

6 minutes ago, RememberSchiff said:

Be aware, the NRA would likely take their sizable monetary donations  to Scouting elsewhere

I’ve heard this before, so I looked it up. The NRA Foundation gave the BSA and councils $4 million from 2010 to 2016, according to the Associated Press’s examination of its public tax records. That’s about $666,000 a year. The BSA took in $228 million in the last year for which its tax reports are available (just National, not local councils). Speaking roughly, therefore, we can conclude that the NRA’s support makes up 0.29 percent of the BSA’s total annual revenues. (And when we include council revenues, that percentage will dive even further.)

What that means: The NRA’s famed largesse can be replaced entirely with a 20-cent increase in the BSA annual registration fee. At this point, the NRA needs the BSA more for legitimacy and political cover than we need it for financial and program support.

@RichardB, can you check with your colleagues and see if these numbers are accurate? Thanks!

20 hours ago, RichardB said:

Would be interested in who this forum thinks could fill the role that NRA Instructors, TC's and RSO / CRSO's provide to the shooting sports?   

I would love to see the BSA be its own resource for this. We certainly have the internal expertise. Why not develop our own instructor training and certifications instead of relying on an outside organization that has become incredibly politicized, offensive and objectionable to many Americans? The NRA connection will turn off many parents and youth in the years to come.

“The American Boys’ Handy-Book” by Beard is also a great read. I so wanted to make a houseboat when I was a kid. Definitely written in a different time ... “Just stop in at the local sawmill and see if the workers will give you some castoff boards for free!”

24 minutes ago, desertrat77 said:

Duct, I'm intrigued re the old timers.  Any specific titles you'd recommend?

“Woodcraft,” by Nessmuk aka George Washington Sears. http://www.raems.com/articles/nessmuk/nessmuk.htm

How does your troop reinforce and support those two ideals?

If any external frame fans really want their heads to explode, check out the ultralight sub on Reddit and read about Ray Jardine. Base pack weights of 10-15 pounds - or less!

I’m about as anti-NRA as you can get, but I don’t see anything wrong with borrowing a simple, easy-to-remember phrase about safety.

If the BSA were explicitly pushing the Eddie Eagle curriculum or pushing any of the NRA’s political lines, I’d have a major objection. But that doesn’t appear to be the case here.

There have been a couple references in this thread to A-IOLS. Is there an advanced version of that training currently?

1 hour ago, WisconsinMomma said:

Any PR problems with the BSA coming across as either pro-vax or anti-vax in the media would be a disaster.

The BSA is already pro-vaccination, thank goodness. See Public Health merit badge, requirement 2.

5 hours ago, RememberSchiff said:

Second the camp nurse check-in, IMO this stop has been more about checking the paperwork and collecting meds and less checking the camper's current health for admission.  How are you feeling? I'm okay. Shouldn't everyone have their temp and neck glands checked?

Third a complete refund if a scout/scouter is sick. 

Let’s say the camp’s lone health officer (a paramedic around here) spends 2 minutes per camper X 400 Scouts and Scouters = 800 minutes = 13+ hours just on wellness checks alone, no prescription or health/activity restriction checks. If your camp can call up a team of nurses or physicians willing to help with that for free every Sunday afternoon in June and July, more power to you, but we don’t have that resource.

The refund idea is good, but creates a giant loophole for abuse for people who just don’t want to come at the last minute. Who’s the doctor that will make that call?

31 minutes ago, packsaddle said:

(and that higher authority only knows what else!)

Hello, sir. Have you met scrapple?

What exactly do you mean?

3 hours ago, DuctTape said:

Some is not even necessary for the first year. A few perhaps not at all. For example, some of the camping items are often used for car camping and might be "nice to have", but are not necessary.  Lashing staves? I would suggest gathering some from the woods. In my experience they work better than the purchased ones anyway.

I agree. This is kind of a catch-all list because we’d be dealing with a potential wide range of experience levels. A troop of mostly younger Scouts can’t be expected to go backpacking or have lightweight gear on the first trek. A cooler, for example, may be a necessary transition item to get them through a year of “lightweight car camping” before they’re ready to hike everything in on their backs. 

Lashing staves are more for practice during meetings; a CO might not like it if we dragged in a bunch of downed saplings and left bark all over the place.